Tele-operation may refer to operating a machine at a distance. While tele-operation may be applied to a wide range of situations for operating a device or machine from a distance, tele-operation is commonly encountered in research, academic, and technical environments associated with robotics and mobile robots. Such operation of robots from a distance is the focus of an area of robotics denoted as telerobotics.
One application of telerobotics includes the use of robots for space exploration, using telerobotics space probes, telescopes, or exploration rovers. Similarly, remotely operated vehicles utilize telerobotics to work in deep marine environments. Additionally, researchers are investigating the use of telerobotics in the fields of medical devices and minimally invasive surgical systems.
Telerobotics often involves visual and control components using wireless or wired connections with the robot. A remote camera or other imaging device may provide a visual representation of a view from the robot's location. Additionally, an interface may allow a user to control operation of the robot at a distance. For example, a simple interface may be a mouse-monitor-keyboard interface. In some examples, the interface may also include a joystick.